After many years of pressure to pass Ten Commandments legislation in the schools, last year, the state legislature decided to take the baby step of reinstating the 1971 Ten Commandments monument in Memorial Park on the grounds of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort.

This year, we are asking the state legislature to finally pass solid Ten Commandments legislation for the Kentucky public schools.

House Bill 670 is legislation to permit and require the posting of the Ten Commandments in our public schools. It is a combined bill with elements from both Josh Calloway's and Richard White's Ten Commandments bills from last year, with additional considerations mentioned in light of input from Attorney General Russell Coleman's office.

So, House Bill 670 has a section dealing with Supreme Court precedents in favor of permitting the Ten Commandments in public schools, a section that requires the Ten Commandments to be in each school classroom upon voluntary donation of enough funds or a qualifying Ten Commandments display, and a section to permit the Ten Commandments to be in the public schools with a recognition of the Ten Commandments as a historically noteworthy document like the Mayflower Compact and Declaration of Independence.

The section on Supreme Court precedents includes van Orden v. Perry (Ten Commandments can be on government property), American Legion v. American Humanist Association (Ten Commandments has historical significance to the legal system), and Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (posting of voluntarily donated Ten Commandments displays is legal).

Please email your state legislators here in favor of permitting the Ten Commandments in our public schools.

Note: We have consulted with Josh Calloway on ways to improve the bill. So, it might end up with a committee substitute with one or both of those improvements. Rep. Calloway wants to confer with the Attorney General's office to see if they approve of one of our suggested improvements. Rep. Calloway wants Attorney General Coleman to be confident in his ability to defend the Ten Commandments bill in court. Regardless, we believe it is important to show public support for the Ten Commandments bill even as it is now. We wanted a combined unified Ten Commandments bill this year, and House Bill 670 is that bill.